Thomas Gibbons Harrigan, 9, contemplates how best to consume the hamburger he ordered from Church Street Tavern. Thomas was on vacation with his family from Canada. / ELIOT deBRUHN, Free Press

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Between sticky hot temperatures in the high 90s, and rainy days in the low 70s, Don and Rachel Millette caught a perfect day for outside eating.

The visitors from Barrington, N.H., who’d been eating in their RV or at KFC with their grandkids, were on their own last Sunday morning. They parked themselves at a table on the eastern edge of Leunig’s patio and enjoyed a leisurely brunch.

“This is my favorite way to eat — to sit outside in a little bistro” said Rachel Millette, 60. “This is all I need. To sit here with my cup of coffee as people pass, and have a good breakfast. And I’m happy to go back home.”

As the Millettes ate breakfast skillets — meat, eggs, cheddar, veggies, et al — they talked about blocking off a little section of the street to capture the scene, and the people inhabiting it. “Why are they here?” Rachel Millette said. “In Burlington, Vermont?”

One reason they’re here, whoever they are, is to eat outside in the fleeting season when the northern Vermont climate permits al fresco dining. Burlingtonians know that first warm and sunny spring days (that may mean 45 degrees) bring throngs of people to Church Street, a crowd scene that is replicated on fine days through the fall.

Restaurateurs say the expanded seating of outdoor dining, and consequent larger customer base, is important to their year-round business plan. Servers say customers are often in a better mood when they’re eating outside in good weather. Ron Redmond, executive director of Church Street Marketplace, says outdoor dining is crucial for Church Street businesses.

“On a scale of one to 10, it’s a 10,” Redmond said.

There are two dozen places to eat outside on the marketplace between Main and Pearl Streets, according to the Church Street Marketplace. These range from upscale restaurants like Church and Main to coffee and dessert places such as Uncommon Grounds and Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop.

It’s not easy to hide on Church Street, but there are some less obvious places: a rooftop beer garden on Lower Church, Das Bierhaus, where we had a refreshing hefeweizen and German-style snacks (a soft pretzel, red cabbage, noodle kugel) on a sweltering night; and the back garden at Halvorson’s near the north end of the street, a welcoming getaway in the heart of downtown.

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If the restaurants hold a special appeal for diners in warm-weather months — the kids can play on rocks; grown-ups watch the passing scene, sip a drink and choose from among burritos, sushi, steaks, pasta with mussels and shrimp, and far more — al fresco dining can be make or break for the eateries, according to Redmond.

“I truly think that our restaurants would not be successful if they didn’t have outdoor dining,” Redmond said. “It really makes a difference between keeping them in the black, as opposed to the red.”

Redmond said that during a spell of extremely cold weather, when people were staying home, marketplace restaurateurs joked about hiring a bankruptcy lawyer. “We made a joke that it would save money for everyone,” he said.

A wet spring and early summer, like this May and June, is a tough way to start the outdoor dining season, said Josh Palmer, general manager of Three Tomatoes.

With outdoor seating, Three Tomatoes expands by 12 or 16 tables (the latter on Friday and Saturday nights in July and August) in seasonable weather. Sixteen additional tables means 30 to 40 more diners per seating.

“It increases our business tremendously,” Palmer said. “If it’s nice weather, sometimes we’ll do three-quarters or more of our business outside. Church Street has that outdoor dining draw: people watching and street performers.”

Palmer estimates that more than half the summer eating crowd is out-of-towners, with a good portion of the tourists from Quebec. This is in keeping with the numbers offered by Tonya Calley, manager at Sweetwaters.

At the popular al fresco corner of College and Church streets, Sweetwaters has a crowd that is about 70 percent tourists and 30 percent locals in the summer months, Calley said. Of the tourists, at least half are from Quebec, she estimates.

The outdoor seating almost doubles the capacity of the restaurant, and is therefore a significant boost to business, Calley said.

“I think al fresco dining is really appealing, particularly to Vermonters,” Calley said. “We like to get the most out of our weather.” In fine weather, customers tend to linger longer when they eat outside, she said.

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Not every restaurant is able to sustain itself through the summer boom. Mike Williams, former owner of the Scuffer Steak and Ale House, sold his restaurant in May after losing a significant amount of money over the past three years, he said.

Williams, owner of Kountry Kart Deli on Main Street, owns the building that houses the restaurant, which he sold in May to Sam Handy and a partner, Williams said.

“Running a restaurant, you need to be there around the clock,” Williams said. “If you’re not there around the clock, a lot of things can come up and bite you in the butt.”

Of primary importance is controlling food and labor costs, Williams said. “I sold the restaurant so I could breathe easier and focus on what has gone well for me.”

He owned the Scuffer from November 2007 until May, and agrees with other business owners that a strong summer season is vital for sustaining a restaurant.

“I feel from November to April, Church Street Marketplace becomes like a ghost town,” Williams said.

He and other restaurant managers said the Farmhouse Tap and Grill, which opened in the spring of 2010 half a block from Church Street, has drawn crowds to be jealous of.

“They’ve been extremely successful,” Williams said. “With numbers I can only dream about.”

At RiRa last weekend, Vermonters Micaela Mendicino and Erik Johnson lingered over sweet potato tater-tots. The best friends confided with a smile that the very reason to order the potatoes is to have something to munch on, so they can stay longer at the outdoor table.

“This is the perfect little piece of summer,” said Mendicino, 25, an actor who grew up in Burlington and lives in St. Albans. She travels regularly to New York City, where she used to live.